


Merman in Wonderland

by TheKnuckleDuster



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll, Original Work
Genre: Mermaids, Wonderland, merfolk, merman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 13:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12532800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKnuckleDuster/pseuds/TheKnuckleDuster
Summary: A merman on the run from greedy humans falls down the rabbit hole and into the whimsical world of Wonderland. Will he survive? Will he get out and back to the Earthly sea, or does this place seem oddly familiar? Read to find out!





	1. Chapter 1

"Don't let him get away!!" The hunters called through the night in the woods surrounding a village by the sea. A young man ran as fast as his legs could carry him as he could hear their calls not too far behind him. Alex wasn't easily spooked, but right now more than ever he was terrified.

"Of all the things to happen, It had to be this." he thought bitterly as he tried his best to keep pace on these legs of his. As if on cue to his negative thoughts, the night sky above him began to rumble. He looked up with wide eyes, still not stopping his strides as he trudged through the trees. He tried to pick up pace but he already could feel a few tiny droplets on his skin as the sky was about to pour. 

"Keep going! You can't change now! Not now!" his mind urged him faster. Now the tiny droplets of water were becoming thicker and thicker until finally it was a full on downpour.

"No no no no!" he couldn't help but exclaim as it was already happening. Unable to keep balance, he tripped and fell straight down into the mud below with a grunt. Alex quickly sat up on his elbows and looked at his legs behind him. He already knew what he would see but that didn't stop him from almost screaming in fear. His two legs, once dry was now one teal fishtail covered in the wet gray mud. Normally his tail was a part of him that would have great advantages in the water. However, he wasn't anywhere near the ocean right now and a fishtail on land would have him immobilized. The worst part was that he was stuck in this muddy mess and the mermaid hunters were after him and gaining on his location fast.

Yes, Alex is what you would call a merman. It was just but a few hours ago, that he finally told her about his secret. A secret he's had to deal with for only two years now. Up until then, he was human. Or so he thought, but soon after his sixteenth birthday passed he started noticing changes that were by no means normal. It wasn't until he fell into the ocean one day that his tail took shape. Knowing he was found on the beach as a baby and adopted, it finally made sense to him why he always longed for the ocean. It took a little while, but Alex eventually did accept his true nature- he wanted to live in both worlds though so a year later when he was seventeen, he decided to leave his foster parents for a job in a fishing village far away.  
He left his hometown and hasn't looked back since. He realized that he would have to keep his origins a secret of course. It was common knowledge that mers fetched a high price on the black market. When he moved into the village, he mostly kept to himself- but one lady who would often come to the docks did catch his eye. The lady Charlotte was the most beautiful woman in town, but she was also one of the most deceiving. Having several affairs with many men outside of her arranged marriage. Lady Charlotte knew how to get the most out of her courters with very little effort.

Alex was an attractive man and women would flirt with him every now and then. But of course, Lady Charlotte wanted him to herself after spotting him in the tavern after a long day's work. So, she picked him to be her lucky man of the night, and the next night, and the next. Soon his heart fell victim to lady Charlotte and he naively wanted to tell her what he was since she seemed to be the only woman who would care so much for him.

Things didn't go as planned.... When Charlotte saw him step into the bathtub and transform in front of her, needless to say- she was shocked. But instead of immediately running away screaming- she conjured a fake smile and told him she understood kissing him passionately. Charlotte waited until later that afternoon to discreetly inform the local hunters about a merman living in the town and exactly who he is, expecting to claim a reward for him.

They came for him that night, Alex was surprised to see the hunters with their torches lit coming straight towards his home- then when he saw Charlotte sitting on her horse behind them, pointing with a vindictive smile on her face. He immediately knew why they were there.

He bolted out the back door, and into the nearby woods to try to escape.

Alex desperately looked around to see if there was some way he could possibly hide from their approach. He obviously couldn't run anymore with his tail out, He looked up startled when he heard a branch snap and white dash went by him. He looked around again but couldn't see too well in the dark. A flash of light from the sky briefly revealed a white rabbit standing on two feet next to a burrow in a large oak tree.

"Don't let him get away!" Charlotte's voice called nearby. "He couldn't of gotten too far now that it's raining!" 

Alex looked towards the burrow again, the rabbit was gone. He knew this might be his only chance to escape. Hastily, he did his best to crawl towards the hole in the ground, the mud was slippery beneath him and it was quite difficult to drag himself forward. But still he pushed and pulled himself. Closer and closer until finally he made it to the edge. He could hear the hoofsteps of Charlotte's horse dangerously close by- with one last push- he slipped himself into the hole and before he knew it, he was falling deep into an underground abyss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask and you shall receive! hehe Thanks to the two commenters who have reviewed this so far! I'm happy to keep this going for ya! ^_^

 

* * *

 

**EDIT: _Thought you might like to see what Alex looks like. ;) Thanks so much to[Kurama-Chan](https://kurama-chan.deviantart.com/) on Deviantart for doing this awesome piece for me!_**

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Falling, falling, and falling, Alex had his eyes shut bracing for an impact but it never seem to come.

Confused, his sea green eyes shot open just in time to see the tiny bit of moonlight from the ground surface become nothing more than a mere speck above.

 

_“Just how deep is this hole?”_ the merman worriedly thought.

Suddenly, the air seemed to get lighter and his momentum slowed. Before he knew it, Alex was floating horizontally in the thin air, as if it were water.

“Huh?” he questioned out loud. Turning to face downward, he could make out a little bit of dim light below him. Hesitantly, he kicked his tail to move and quickly found that this anti-gravity air was a lot like swimming in the water. He propelled himself downwards to find that there were torches hanging around that illuminated this strange cavern he was in.

 

“Weird…” he said incredulously. Upon going further down, the earthy walls melded into bricks and he found all sorts of random objects floating around him. Broken toys, an umbrella, old maps and random furniture. Alex wasn’t sure what was going on at all. “How is this possible?” he questioned outloud. As soon as he had that thought, gravity turned on again, as if to punish him for thinking such things. The merman yelped in surprise as he was falling straight down again- in his desperation, his hands reached out to an object nearby and happened to catch a pair of green draperies hanging off the brick wall. He grunted as he grabbed it and held on to it for dear life. He was thankful that his arms were very strong, as most mermen’s naturally are and he was able to hold his weight as he hung off of the drapes. Just as he sighed in relief, a tearing sound was heard and he looked up in horror as the drapes tore off the wall. Again he fell with the fabric still in his hands- but this time it wasn’t that long a fall and he hit the floor hard.

 

“Ugh.” He groaned as he made impact. After taking a second to recover, he finally sat up tangled in the teared draperies that came with him. Looking to his left he came face to face with a mirror- he quickly noticed that he was caked with mud all over him- the white shirt he was wearing was filthy, as for his pants- well he knew they tore up in the rain when he transformed so they were long gone now. While he was still wet in some places, the air from falling had dried most of him, including his tail- he inhaled a sharp breath as he felt what was coming. His tail split into two legs and he had transformed back to his human form. The first time this happened it was pretty painful, but as time went on he got used to it and it’s only a minor discomfort now whenever he transforms from tail to legs and vice versa.

 

Standing up he immediately noticed a dilemma, his pants were gone- he was now naked from the waist down. He frowned, but noticed the green drapes on the floor. He grinned with an idea to fix this problem. Taking the drapes, he tied it around his waist as a long skirt with a bit of a train in the back, then he took the longer back of the makeshift-skirt and brought it up between his legs tucking it into the waist- voila! Now he was wearing short pants made out of the green drapes. They were baggy in some places but it certainly did the trick.

 

Now fully clothed, he decided to take a look at his surroundings. Stepping out from what appeared to be a chimney he just fell from, his expression grew even more confused- the floor was black and white checkered tiles that led down to a striped hallway. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the same white rabbit from earlier dash around the corner. “Wait!” He called out to it, not knowing if it could even understand him, he had a feeling this rabbit was apart of the reason why he fell into this place- so he needed to find out for himself.

 

Running down the hall, he turned another corner and stopped at a dead end. The quick slam of a door nearby was heard and he turned to find a door right next to him.

Reaching for the nob, he was surprised to see that it only led to another smaller door in the wall. Opening that one led to and even smaller one, and that one to an even smaller one, finally the door became a tiny door only a doll could fit through. When he tried to open that one, it was locked…

 

_“Well then…”_ he thought bitterly, he sighed and sat backwards, putting his forehead into his palm, trying to think of a way to get through.

 

“Oh ho ho! Having a little trouble are we?” a high pitched female voice said near him. He quickly turned around, but didn’t see anyone there. “Who’s there?” he called.

 

“Down here!” said the voice again. Alex turned back and looked down to the source of the voice- the decorative female-face of a door knocker on that tiny door was speaking to him.

 

“Whoa!” he jumped back in surprise

 

“Oh don’t be afraid darling, I’m simply the keeper of this door. Do you need to get in?” the object said.

 

“Oh…uhh, yes. I do, can you let me in?” Alex replied warily.

 

“No can do. You don’t fit!” she laughed back.

 

“What? But I need to find that white rabbit that just went through! How do I unlock you?” Alex asked with a bit of urgency in his voice.

 

“Simply use the bottle.”

 

“Bottle?”

 

Alex turned around and saw that the room suddenly changed into a kitchen behind him, there was a stove, a sink, and all sorts of spice bottles on a shelf above it. In the center of the room, was a small round table with a bottle labeled, _“Drink me”_ on it. Alex took the bottle and sniffed it’s contents, it didn’t smell like poison. He looked at the door knocker skeptically as he held it.

 

“Go on” She encouraged.

 

Swallowing nervously, he uncapped the bottle and took a sip of it’s contents.

Almost immediately, the room got bigger around him and his body and clothes shrunk down with him till he was about the size of a doll.

 

“Wow.” he said, his voice a bit higher in pitch.

 

Walking over, he tried the tiny door again, but it was still locked. The door knocker laughed, sounding a lot louder and more obnoxious than she did before.

 

“Oh silly boy- you need the key! Did you forget it? It’s right there on the table!”

 

Alex quickly turned and saw the key magically appear on the giant table above him, but now he’s the size of a doll- he couldn’t possibly get up there to get it.

 

“What?! There wasn’t a key before! How am I gonna get to it now!” he said as he was attempting to climb the table anyways.

 

“You can use the box.” the knocker replied. Instantly a box melted up out of the ground next to his bare feet.

 

Alex opened it to find cookies labeled “ _Eat Me”_ on them. He sighed, and couldn’t help but feel like the knocker was getting enjoyment out of this.

 

Taking one, he finally bit into it. The room then got smaller and his body enlarged up until is head hit the ceiling. Upon the kitchen space getting more cramped, his giant foot knocked over one of the spice bottles on the shelf. The bottle labeled “ _Crying juice”_ broke on the floor and the smell of chopped onions quickly filled the entire room, and boy was it strong.

 

“Oh man!” He covered his nose as his eyes started watering. Alex chopped onions before, but never before had he smelled something so pungent in his life! The smell made his eyes cry like never before. He sniffled and tried to wipe his giant tears away but in doing so only made puddles of water on the floor. His teardrops were so big that it was starting to flood the room.

 

“Hey! Calm down won’t you?” the door knocked scolded as she was getting splashed with the tears.

 

“I …can’t stop crying!” Alex exclaimed as the tears kept pouring out like a waterfall. Soon enough he was sitting in a large puddle of his own tears and already he could feel his legs start to shift.

 

“Oh no!” he cried in alarm, tears still pouring down his face and rising the water below him. The green drapes he was wearing quickly gave way to his tail. As soon as he transformed, the room became even more cramped, with his giant green fins pressing against the wall and the water still rising.

 

“Use the bottle! Quickly!” he heard the knocker say just before she went under the water level.

He spotted it floating next to him since it got knocked off the table, grabbing it with two fingers, he tipped it to his mouth swallowing what was left in it. His mer-form shrunk back inwards with him still holding the bottle, he dropped it as it got bigger than he was and it splashed and filled halfway with the water below. Alex’s form dropped straight into the bottle below him and his tears finally stopped. The half-filled bottle containing Alex was now in a current of sorts being carried away into the open keyhole of the tiny door. Only one thought went through the merman’s mind as he was being swept away into the next area of this strange place.

 

“ _I wish that onion smell didn’t make me cry so much..”_

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. Gonna keep going with this. Thanks for your reviews! The more I get the more likely it'll be updated! lol

The current of ’merman tears’ carried Alex through another area of this strange world and before he knew it, he could see what appeared to be a purple sky out of the top of the tiny bottle containing him. Alex tried to swim up to the top of the bottle, but it was only halfway filled with water so he couldn’t quite reach the rim with just his arms length alone, finally he kicked his tail hard enough for him to jump up just enough for him to reach it.

 

His fingers grasped the edge of the bottle’s top and he grunted a bit as he climbed up halfway and peeked his head out. The merman blinked in even more confusion. He was floating in a vast ocean. The sound of whistling caught his ears and he looked in the distance to see something approaching. At first, he wondered if it were a ship but upon the object floating closer he saw it was a large bird floating on the feet of another black bird, which was being pushed by another white bird.

 

“Ok. That’s not normal?” he thought outloud.

 

Upon that thought a huge wave crashed into the bottle, tumbling it over a few times and making Alex lose his grip and slip back inside. It filled with even more water as it floated upright again. Alex shook his head dazed and now was able to pull his torso out of the top of the bottle without having to try to jump to the rim again.

 

“Ahoy! A fellow mer-mate!” he heard a voice say near him. It came from the dodo bird floating nearby.

 

“Hello!” Alex called back, going with it. 

 

“Can you help me?” he asked.

 

However the dodo wasn’t even listening, as he already passed Alex and pointed to land that the waves were taking him to.

 

“Wait!” he called again. Another wave sent him toppling over and he was this time flung out of the bottle and on to the shore.Alex was surprised to hit the sand and didn’t notice how shallow the water suddenly got. He was able to sit up and looked up again to see the dodo bird perched on a rock with a fire burning next to it as the waves crashed upon the bottom of the rock.

 

“My my.” the dodo said, “What’s a fish like you doing sitting on the shore like that? You’ll never get dry if you don’t move away from these waves.”

 

“Uhh, yes I kno-“ Alex started but he was cut off by another wave crashing into him. This time it worked in his favor as he was carried further onto the dry land. Alex breathed in again and coughed a bit as his gills have been in and out of the air for a while now. Alex sat up and once again spotted the white rabbit sitting right next to him.

 

“Hey!” he exclaimed. “I was looking for you rabbit! Can you tell me where I am?”

 

The rabbit merely laughed. “I have no time to chat young mer. I’m very late!”

 

With that it dashed off again into nearby woods that were just a few feet away from the shore.

 

“No! Wait! Come back!” Alex desperately called reaching his hand out. He wished so badly that he could run after it, but his tail proved to be useless yet again on the land.

 

_“I need to change back”_ He thought with his fins flicking in irritation at his inconvenient situation.

 

Just as he was about to crawl further on to the shore, a yelp escaped him as something heavy pinched onto one of his fins.

 

“Hey! I think I stepped on something Dee.”

 

Alex looked behind him to the source of the uncomfortable pain, a foot was stepping on his fin, and it was not moving either.

 

“Please get off my fin!” Alex finally yelled at the offending person above him. In doing so the foot finally lifted him and allowed him to pull his tail closer to him in protection.

 

“Oh, sorry.” the short person named Dee said as he realized what he stepped on. Alex turned over and glared at not one but two short round boys looking down at him. From the looks of their features they appeared to be twins.

 

“Oi, look what you done now Dee. You made ‘em angry.”

 

“Not on purpose Dum, jus’ look at that tail of his though. Very pretty.”

 

Alex’s eyes widened as he realized that while these boys were a bit odd looking, they still had two legs- which made them human. He shrunk back a bit in fear that they might hunt him or worse. His reaction did not go unnoticed by the twins.

 

“ey ey!” one of them said “Why you acting like that? We ain’t gonna hurt you.”

 

“You…aren’t?” the merman questioned wearily.

 

“Pssh of course not.” the other twin giggled.

 

“We got better things to do than to hurt anyone. Besides only the queen can do that.”

 

Alex furrowed his brows. “Queen? You have a Queen here?”

 

The two boys immediately shushed him before he could say anymore.

 

“Keep your voice down! She got ears everywhere ya know?”

 

“Uhh yes, we love her majesty queen of hearts!” Dee said loudly as if someone were listening to their conversation.

 

Dum leaned in to Alex and whispered, “why don’t you come with us- you were looking for the white rabbit no?”

 

Alex nodded but motioned to his tail. “I’d love to, but I’ll need your help getting dry so I can walk again.”

 

“We can help with that.”

 

Without any warning Dee and Dum Hoisted Alex into their arms. He wrapped his arms around their shoulders for support while they had him sitting in their arms like a seat.

 

“You’re heavy mate.” Dum complained as they walked.

 

The two took several steps into the woods before finally they reached a large tree hollow. The twins placed the merman on a nearby stump and instructed him to wait while they fetch him some clothing from inside the tree.

 

Alex shrugged and nodded, not much else he could do anyways. Dee threw a blanket to him so he can dry off what was left of the water on his tail. Alex gave the twins a look of gratitude as he began to rub his tail dry.Only a few moments later did he transform back into his legs. Dum gave him a pair of blue trousers, black shoes and a new white shirt since the one he had been wearing was still soaked and filthy.

 

Alex stood up as he changed into his new attire. He could feel that Dee and Dum were staring at him intensely and whispering to each other as he was doing so.

 

“Thank you for the clothing.” he said politely. “Out of curiosity, I have to ask, why are you helping me?”

 

Dee and Dum looked around anxiously before answering softly.

 

“We’ve seen a mer like you before in these parts. It’s quite odd actually. But we feel that you might know how to stop her.”

 

“Stop? Stop who from what?” he asked incredulously.

 

“That’s all we can tell you right now.”

 

Alex raised a brow. “Ok…But wait, another mer like me? Can you tell me what they looked like? I actually haven’t met one before.”

 

“We cannot tell you any more. Now get out of our sight!” The twins shoved him along the path going deeper into the woods.

 

“Ok ok!” Alex didn’t try to argue, they done enough for him already.

 

“Bye Fish-boy!” They called out in unison and waved goodbye.

 

“I have a name you know! He called back, It’s Al..ex…”

 

He almost didn’t finish his sentence as he looked back and noticed the scenery had changed again.

The tree hollow was gone, the twins were nowhere to be seen. There was nothing but darkness going that way.

 

Alex sighed. He was starting not to get as surprised anymore with each new thing that did not make any sense.

The young mer continued to follow the path into the woods as he walked towards another new area of this peculiar world he was in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

MERMAN IN WONDERLAND  
  
CHAPTER 4.  
  
  
As Alex walked deeper into the trees of the woods, he was brought to a clearing with a bunch of signs nailed onto a large pink oak. The blonde raised an eyebrow at what he was reading.

An assortment of  _“This way” “That Way” “Up” “Down”_ signs pointing in random directions among the many paths to take.

“Well, that sure is helpful.” he sighed. While he was pondering what direction to take, a distant voice echoed humming through the trees. Alex looked up at the sound and tried to figure out where it was coming from.

 

“Hello?” He called as the humming sound was surrounding him at all angles. As he listened he could faintly recognize the tune the voice was humming along to… It was a hymn he would hear often sung in the churches and among the Naval ships at sea.   
  
One thing that Alex as a merman would always have is a very melodic voice, and with that talent came the natural urge for a him to sing. Many mers enjoy singing and it’s believed to be a good stress reliever for them as well. With that natural-born instinct, he couldn’t help but start to sing the words to the melody.

 

_“Eternal Father, strong to save,_

_Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,_

_Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep_

_Its own appointed limits keep;_

_Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,_

_For those in peril on the sea….”_

 

Just as Alex became caught up in the moment of the song and finished the verse, another voice speaking directly into his ear snapped him out of it.

“What a lovely voice you have there. You’re a fish-boy aren’t you?”

Alex jumped back in surprise to find a purple striped cat sitting on his shoulder. Before he could do anything else, the cat disappeared and then quickly reappeared on a tree branch above. The strange feline laughed at his reaction.  


“Wh-where did you come from?” he asked the cat still a bit in shock.

 

“No matter, I do live in this forest you know. It’s not often I get fish-beings in my domain.” `

 

Alex blinked. “H-how did you know I was a-“

 

“You’re smell.” the cat interrupted giggling. “You smell like fish. I can tell you’re not actually from here.”

 

The cats disappeared with his stripes going invisible first and then he reappeared again on another tree branch adjacent to the one it was just on.  
  
Alex sighed, but soon figured this might be a good opportunity to find out a little more about this place.

 

“You’re right, I’m not… I was being hunted down by humans and I fell into this hole that brought me here, I’m looking for a white rabbit."

 

“Oh you mean  _the_  white rabbit?” The cat questioned.   
  
“He was just here, he went that way.” the cat pointed a claw towards a path with a  _“That way”_ sign pointing to it.

  
“That way?” Alex tried to confirm.

 

“Which way?” the cat answered back.

 

“That way.” Alex repeated.

 

“What’s that way?”

 

“The white rabbit, he went that way right?”

 

“No he didn’t go right, the white rabbit went that way” the cat motioned again.

 

Alex groaned in frustration, He tried rephrasing- “No, I mean. The white rabbit went that way correct?”

 

“Oh. Yes.” The cat smirked. By then, Alex knew this cat had to have been not all there.

“Ok thank you.” He nodded.   
  
Before he could even take a single step in that direction, the cat appeared in front of him again

“Whoa now. You can’t go that way without paying a visit to the Mad Hatter first.”  


Alex’s sea green eyes narrowed a bit at the name, “Mad Hatter?”

 

“Yes, either him or the March Hare. They are both off their rockers though, if you know what I mean.” the cat chuckled with a wink.

 

Alex crossed his arms. “Seems like everyone’s going mad here though don’t you think?” he remarked.

 

“You are very right about that young merman.” the purple cat agreed. “If you stay here too long, you’ll go mad too.”

 

Before Alex could give a response to that, the cat disappeared again, only it’s toothy grin shown in the darkness of the trees before that vanished too.

  
Alex looked around and didn’t see a trace of the cat's presence anywhere anymore, so he decided to keep moving towards a new region of this place where he would find this so-called Mad Hatter.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4.   
> Thanks to those who have expressed interest in this!  
> I know I'm kinda going out of order here with who Alice would've come across first. Xp  
> No Matter though, Enjoy! :3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your reviews!! And so sorry that this chapter took so long to post, I can at least try to promise that this story is not going to be discontinued anytime soon. ;)

It seemed only a short walk before Alex found himself standing in front of a garden house. A table was set up outside with an elegant set up of an assortment of all sorts of teapots, tea cups and saucers.

At the far end of the table were two figures, the steam from some of the pots made them a bit difficult to see. Each chair leading to the end of the table had a porcelain doll, and stuffed animals in it as well. Among the china, were some cakes, cookies and other pastries as well.

 

Alex’s stomach growled, reminding him it was too long since his last meal. While pastries were not the ideal thing to eat, it would have to do to hold him over till he can properly find a good entree. He unlatched the short gate and walked to the table. He sat down on a big wooden chair and picked out a random cake on the right side. As soon as he took bite, Alex’s body suddenly shrunk down again to the size of a tiny mouse this time. Now only three inches tall, he smacked his forehead at himself. He should’ve known from the last thing he ate here that something like this would happen! He didn’t think about it because his hunger clouded his judgment. Now he was stuck in the center of a big wooden chair and the edge of the table was way too high to reach.

 

“hehehehe need help?” a voice behind him suddenly said.

 

Alex turned around to find a brown mouse staring at him. He nodded and the mouse motioned him to grab on to its back.

Alex got on, straddling the back of the mouse’s neck between his legs and held tight as it climbed up to the table’s surface with ease. Alex thought it was going to stop there, but instead it went straight into a big teapot nearby. His eyes widened as he saw what was in it.

 

“No! Wait!” he tried to stop the mouse, but it was too late- Alex splashed into the tea contained in the pot and his tail came out yet again. It’s not just water that can cause him to transform, Alex did find that any liquid containing high amounts of water was fair game if enough was splashed on him. Since tea is simply hot water soaked in leaves, this was certainly no exception.

 

The merman coughed and choked a bit on the tea he was surrounded in, his gills wouldn’t work well in something like this- only pure water is breathable for him.

 

As he surfaced the mouse was bathing itself happily in the tea. Suddenly a loud clang and vibration was felt nearby and the mouse immediately scurried out of the spout it originally came from.

 

“No! Wait, come back!” Alex desperately called not wanting it to leave him stuck in this pot. He worriedly tried to find a way out, but then the pot lurched to the side and brought him tumbling around until finally he slid out of the flowing tea from the spout and straight into a teacup along with four lumps of sugar.

 

“Happy unbirthday to me!” a slurring male voice above said as he dropped two sugar cubes into the cup. Alex looked up and sure enough a crazy looking man with a tall hat was the one who poured him out of the teapot. He did not seem to notice that a tiny merman was floating around in his teacup. Alex tried calling out but the Hatter couldn’t hear him. The Merman’s eyes widened as the Hatter picked up the cup and brought it closer to his mouth for a drink. Thinking quickly, Alex used his tail and splashed a good amount of tea into the Mad Hatter’s face to get his attention.

 

“ey!” The hatter sputtered at the sudden lukewarm liquid hitting him. The crazy looking man spotted the merman in the cup just after he wiped the tea away from his eyes.

 

“Oh! Look Hare! There’s a fish in my tea!” he exclaimed excitedly.

 

He handed A brown anthro bunny the teacup and it took a peek. Sure enough there was Alex with a scared and confused look on his face as he waved hesitantly at the bunny.

 

“ahaha! You’re right Hatter! We should have more tea to celebrate!” The hare clapped in giddy as he poured himself some more tea overflowing to the brim of his cup.

 

“Yes yes!! I’ve been investigating things that begin with the letter M today. I just knew a Mermaid would be apart of it!”

 

“Umm. Actually I’m a Mer _MAN_ thank you.” Alex protested.

 

The Mad Hatter shot a doe-eyed look at his teacup again.

 

“Oh you silly fish, of course of course! But you know what else starts with the letter M?….MAD! Like ME!”

 

Alex looked at the hatter questioningly but before he could even give a possible response, a big spoon scooped him out of the teacup and placed him on the tablecloth.

 

The merman couldn’t help but grimace at how sticky he was now from the sugars dropped into the tea. If he dried like this he wouldn’t be able to move much because of it crystalizing between his scales. He flopped about ungracefully on the table, earning a chuckle from the hare.

 

“Looks like someone’s in need of a bath.” The Hare commented from his spot across the table.

 

Suddenly Alex was picked up again and dunked in a glass of ice water. He shivered a bit from the unexpected change in temperature going from being in hot tea to now chilled ice water.

 

Not liking being handled so sporadically, the merman wriggled his way out of the Hare’s grip and fell on to a porcelain china plate, nearly cracking it from impact. After groaning a bit from falling on to a hard surface, he finally looked up again to give an earful to the two beings at the table.

 

“Are you out of your minds?!” He yelled- though not very loudly with him being so small.

 

“Why yes. thank you for noticing.” the Hatter answered.

 

“Ugh!!” Alex groaned once again. He spotted a cloth napkin not too far away from the plate he was sitting on and tried to crawl his way over to it. When he at last got to the cloth, he wrapped it around his shoulders to keep himself from getting too cold and wet.

Just then the mouse that left him in the teapot scurried up next to him.

 

“Forgive the masters young mer. It’s been a while since we’ve had company like this.” The mouse spoke apologetically for the two crazy beings at the table. Alex nodded at the mouse, at least one of them was polite.

 

“Yes, that reminds me!” the Hatter spoke slamming his hands down on the table so hard it shook the dish-ware.

 

“I do recall a mermaid coming to our table some time ago. She was quite large in the middle.”

 

“That’s because she was with child ya loon!” the Hare retorted next to him.

 

“Was she? I thought she swallowed a balloon by mistake. That does happen you know.” The Hatter argued.

 

“No, I’m pretty sure she was carrying a youngling in her.”

 

“Nah-uh”

 

“Yes-huh”

 

“Hey wait a minute!” Alex interrupted below before they could argue any further.

 

“You saw a pregnant mermaid here before? How long ago was that?”

 

A silent pause occurred for a good few seconds before they both burst out laughing.

 

“Hahahah! Did you hear that Hare? What an absurd question! _How long ago?_ ” The Hatter mocked.

 

Alex looked confused at their banter, “May I ask why is that funny?”

 

“Time means nothing here my dear fish.” the mouse chimed in.

 

At that moment, as to add to the ironic idea of time passing- Alex’s tail split into his legs again. He was still wrapped in the cloth napkin to cover himself, but now needed something he could walk around in. Alex looked around trying to come up with a solution to this predicament he was in. How on earth was he going to find something to fit him at this size?

Spotting one of the motionless porcelain dolls sitting near the centerpiece, he frowned and blushed a bit. “ _I guess it’s better than nothing.”_

 

Alex motioned the mouse to come closer, blushing lightly, he whispered his plan in its ear, pointing to the doll across the table. The mouse giggled a bit at first but nodded and scurried off, soon returning with one of the blue dresses and shoes the doll was wearing. With no other choice, Alex begrudgingly put the dress and shoes on, along with the petticoats and tights that were sewn in with it. Surprisingly enough the clothing fit him perfectly, His cheeks burned red when he saw himself in the reflection of a silver platter on the table. He would’ve passed for a very attractive woman save for his flat chest and short messy hair.

 

“My my, you look lovely.” the Hatter whistled earning a glare from the merman.

 

Alex approached the mouse, having about enough of these two.

 

“Would you mind helping me? I suppose I can’t find a way get to a bigger size now can I?" Alex asked the mouse hopefully.

 

The mouse thought a moment before answering.

 

“You’ll have to go to the caterpillar’s greenhouse if you want to get back to your normal height. I can take you there, but be warned-he does not take lightly to anything or anyone who rather be bigger than he is. It’s very likely he will need to be persuaded for you to be able to get anything out of his garden.”

 

Alex gulped nervously, but straightened himself up and nodded to the mouse. He turned to the Hatter and Hare.

 

“Thank you for a…unique tea party, but I must be going now. I should find out more about this mermaid you mentioned for I would like to meet her and find out more about my kind.”

 

“Leaving so soon?” the Hatter sighed with a hint of sadness in his voice. Alex’s expression grew surprised, he pondered if it was a good idea to leave them, but the Hare spoke up and raised his cup in appreciation before anything else could be said.

 

“Thank you for your visit good fish-boy- and a Happy UnBirthday to you! Cheers!”

 

Refusing to lose any more dignity by curtsying in the dress he was in, Alex simply bowed at the two crazy beings and climbed on the mouse again,riding down the tablecloth and into the thick grass beyond the fence. The Hatter and Hare looked at each other as Alex left, grinning surreptitiously as they both poured themselves another cup of tea.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, if you want to watch this story on Deviantart go to http://theknuckleduster876.deviantart.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite some thinking this might not be worth continuing, I am still having fun with this! Hehe please be sure to review/comment and leave kudos for me! ^_^

Chapter 6

 

The Mouse rode Alex through the dense grass and stopped at the edge of a clearing.

 

“This is as far as I go young mer, I’m afraid the caterpillar doesn’t take too kindly to me since I stole some of his tea leaves before.” it said as Alex unmounted.

 

“It’s ok, I thank you for taking me this far.” he responded while brushing off the petticoats he was forced to wear at the moment.

 

“The caterpillar’s cottage is just through there, his garden is in the back. I would be wise to not let him catch you taking anything, or he will surely summon the lady Almera and let me warn you, she is someone you do NOT want to play with.”

 

Alex nodded nervously in understanding, with a title as fancy as Lady Almera, he was certain she must have been a royal or something and might send him to the evil queen he’s heard about.

 

With a wave goodbye, he took a deep breath and proceeded into the clearing leading to the cottage.

It wasn’t long before it was in his sight, Alex decided to try to approach quietly, but the petticoats he was wearing proved to be loud and rustling with every movement he made, it was no wonder he could hear women walking a mile away wearing these things. Sighing he ended up bunching the ruffles into one wad and holding them to minimize the noise.

He seemed so far to go unnoticed by the caterpillar which he assumed to be still in the cottage.

A clanging noise came from one of the open windows and Alex quickly saw the worm in the kitchen area- washing and drying dishes at the same time with its many arms. Alex’s breath hitched and he backed against the outside wall of the cottage.

Thankfully, the clashing of the dishware as well as water running was loud enough for him not to be heard.

Alex slowly crept across the wall and swiftly ducked under the window frame just as the caterpillar finished washing the last dish and turned off the water in the sink.

He held his breath and silently waited for it to finish what it was doing and leave the kitchen area.

 

“Doing dishes has to be my least favorite chore” the caterpillar muttered to itself in a very slow and dull voice. It pulled out a to-do list and adjusted spectacles to read the paper.

 

“What’s next, ah yes. I need to water the garden.”

 

Alex stifled a gasp while covering his mouth. If it goes into the Garden he’ll never get what he came for! He had to create a distraction for him to get into the garden unnoticed.

As the caterpillar turned to scuffle away on it’s many legs, Alex glanced into the window and saw the stack of plates neatly towered on the counter. He swallowed a bit and swiftly pushed the plates over the counter before making a break for it. He only heard the heavy noise of the china shattering upon the floor as he was quickly sneaking away.

Immediately the caterpillar jumped at the sound and turned around to find all his nice plates completely ruined on the floor.

 

“OHHHH!” the caterpillar exclaimed so loudly that it could be heard by Alex outside near the garden.

 

Alex didn’t have time to watch the caterpillars reaction though, he found the entrance to a small greenhouse in the backyard and swung the door all the way open, running inside.

 

Alex grinned at his achieving getting into the greenhouse, but his eyes widened when he saw the inside. Gigantic plants that seemed as tall as buildings towered above him. This wasn’t a greenhouse to him, it was more like a jungle!

There were so many different types of plants and flowers that he truly did not know where to even start. He shook his head out of the awe. He needed to focus and he knew he did not have much time. He forgot about the open door behind him as he walked into the dense tropical indoor paradise.

 

_“Ok, Alex.”_ the mer tried to encourage himself. _“If I were a caterpillar, which plant would I have to make me grow back to a normal size?”_

 

Recalling that it was the cookies that made him small, and the drink that made larger, he figured that this plant would have to be a liquid of some kind. Since it was common knowledge that juice came from a fruit- he decided to try to start there.

 

Searching for any fruit-bearing plants, he found a few small multi-colored berries in his reach. Just as he was contemplating which color to pick, he heard the scuffling of tiny legs and shoes coming his way.

 

“What?! I know I didn’t leave the greenhouse door open!”

 

With that being his only and best option, Alex cursed to himself for forgetting the door and quickly picked a handful of berries-shoving them into the front pockets of the dress just before he dove into the leaves to conceal himself best he could.

 

“Alright! Who’s in my greenhouse!?” the caterpillar yelled out angrily.

 

Alex covered his mouth in fear, not daring to make any movement or sound in the leaves.

 

“I know someone’s in here! Come out before I make you reveal yourself to me!”

 

Alex still did not move as the caterpillar huffed angrily and pulled out a long smoking pipe.

 

“This pipe will reveal your true form to me. I hope you’re ready to be caught you thief!”

 

Wasting no time, the caterpillar sucked on the pipe and blew out a strange pink smoke.

 

_“True form?”_ Alex wondered as the smoke started to fill the air and surround him little by little. _“There’s no way, a pipe couldn’t possibly…”_

 

He didn’t even get a chance to finish his thought, as a sudden pain filled his lungs once the smoke faintly hit his nostrils. He coughed and gagged, giving away his position to the caterpillar.

 

“Ah ha!” the blue worm shouted and pulled away the leaves to reveal his intruder.

 

Alex tried to get up and run- but his legs wouldn’t respond- in fact there was a quite familiar sensation running through his entire body as he laid on the ground trying to breathe normal air again.

 

The caterpillar laughed as he sucked in the pipe again, but this time he was clearing the smoke as it went back into the pipe.

 

“Well well well, what do we have here.” the blue worm raised a brow upon getting a good look at Alex.

 

Alex finally heaved a breath of the much cleaner air and the pain subsided just as soon as it came. He looked up at the caterpillar’s long body towering over him while standing on its torso.

 

Alex wanted to try to run again, but this time- he subconsciously knew that his legs were not legs at this time. He looked back and sure enough, his tail was visibly protruding from under the dress.

 

“What?! How? I’m not even wet!” he couldn’t help but shout out loud.

 

The caterpillar chuckled above him. “I told you, this pipe reveals your true form to me. Your being a merman is certainly no exception to the spell.”

 

Alex groaned, there was no end to the rules being bent around here. Sitting up, he desperately tried to will his legs to come back, but to no avail. This could be a problem, as if he wasn’t in enough trouble already.

 

“How…how long does it last?” he asked the caterpillar with dread.

 

“Oh, only about 5 minutes. But still just enough time for me to punish you by sending you to where all those who try to steal from my garden go. My Lady Almera will take good care of you.” the caterpillar smirked with a creepy smile.

 

Alex’s eyes widened at the mention of the name, the mouse warned him, and now here he is about to come face to face with her.

 

Taking the pipe once again, the blue worm brought it to his lips and blew out hard, creating a deafening high pitched whistling sound.

 

Alex winced at the noise and tried to cover his ears to minimize it. It wasn’t long after his ears stopped ringing when the entire ground started to shake. Booming footsteps was heard and the trees in the greenhouse started rattling. Whatever Almera was, she must’ve been a huge creature.

 

Alex backed away in fear and tried crawling away, but it was no use-he can’t go anywhere very far at all on land with a fishtail.

 

Suddenly the trees gave way and the rumbling stopped, the area grew darker as a giant shadow loomed above them, Alex’s neck craned upwards and his mouth dropped as his wide eyes followed upwards to take a good look at his punisher.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah! And you thought it would end? Nonono- Ima still going! ;)
> 
> Please be sure to favorite/comment and leave Kudos if you enjoy reading! ^_^

**  
Chapter 7.**

 

Alex was terrified. Not only because he was stuck on land in his fish-form yet again, but also because his minuscule size, compared to this not-so-ordinary giant. A very big but very young girl, appearing only about four years old was summoned by the caterpillar to punish the merman for sneaking into his garden. Despite her size Alex could tell she was just a mere child that just barely made it past the toddler stage.

 

Almera loomed down to the caterpillar’s call and spotted Alex’s fish form. She squealed in giddy upon seeing his tail.

 

“A Mermaid!! You got me a mermaid to play with Absolem!”

 

“Actually my child, he’s a mer _man_ ” Absolem corrected. “But, he has been a very naughty fish-boy and I’m sure he’ll make a wonderful playmate for you.”

 

“Yay!!!” the giantess-child cheered in delight. Alex tried to back away even more, this had to have been the longest five minutes of his life with the smoke spell from the caterpillar’s pipe still keeping him stuck in ‘true form.’ Before anything could happen, Alex was picked up by the child’s fingers and she held his torso in one hand.

 

“Let me go!” he cried to Almera just as he saw the image of the caterpillar waving goodbye from below with a snide smirk on his face.

 

Alex wriggled and flapped his tail from the underside of her fist in hopes to get away, but her grip on him was too tight for the merman to move around much.

 

He was carried away in her hands- bouncing up and down like as if riding a horse without posting as she broke into a run out of the garden. He felt a bit dizzy and disoriented from the motion. Just as he thought he was gonna be sick, her running stopped and he was unceremoniously dropped into a fishbowl full of water.

 

Still wearing the blue dress, the petticoats floated upwards and Alex didn't notice the bright colored berries he stole from the caterpillar's garden slip from the pockets and sink to the bottom of the bowl. Taking a breath of the water, Alex slipped out of the dress and began to get a better look at his surroundings. He was certainly in his worst nightmare now. He floated around in a big fishbowl with bright colored pebbles and white shells at the bottom as well as a singular plant and a small stone castle. The bowl was placed high on a shelf next to a bunch of gigantic-looking toys and books.

 

“Now I have another friend for my little shells! I’ll be back soon with your punishment mister mermaid!” she laughed almost evilly before leaving her room.

 

“Hey! Where are you going? Let me go please!” Alex pleaded banging on the glass as she disappeared from his sight.

 

Alex bit his lip in nervousness. He needed to try to find a way out of this. A bubble floated past his face and caused him to glance down at something that moved ever so slightly at the bottom of the bowl. Curious as to what it was, he flicked his tail and swam the short way downwards towards the pebbles and white shells. Upon further inspection he saw eyes peek out slightly from underneath the shells before them disappearing by snapping closed. He blinked and realized that these were no ordinary shells, they were clams. A good number of them scattered across the bottom. Knowing the shy nature of clams, the merman tried to show he was non-threatening to them, attempting to coax them out with a soft voice. Maybe they can give him some helpful information.

 

“It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you guys.” the merman said in the most gentle sounding voice he could come up with.

 

His non-threatening movements must’ve worked- as the clams slowly opened up again and revealed their cute pink faces inside. Some even stood up, the white shells only being on top of their heads looking like a bonnet and the rest of their bodies being like they were wearing a pink dress, they also had small shell-like shoes underneath. Alex gasped a bit upon seeing how small these clams really were, he realized these were younglings- mere baby clams that have been held captive here. He cleared his throat before speaking to them again.

 

“Hello, my name is Alex. Please can you tell me where I am and how to get out of here?”

 

The clams murmured amongst themselves before one of them finally spoke up in the tiniest voice Alex has ever heard.

 

“You’re in Almera’s room of course. And you can’t get out of here… We were taken from our mother ages ago and we’ve been here ever since… Every once in a while Almera will take one of us out to ‘play’ and they are never seen again.”

 

“I see” Alex gulped sadly, these clams were so young and some have perished under this child’s cruelty. Trying to come up with something he could possibly use with him, he glanced up and noticed the dress was still floating on the surface. That’s when he remembered what he had with him in the pockets of that dress.

 

“The berries!” he exclaimed so loudly it scared the clams back into their shells again. He quickly swam up and checked the pockets of the dress, only to find them empty. His face paled- the berries were right there in the pockets, they had to have fallen out somewhere along the line. His eyes widened even more when he could feel the vibration of the water he was in. Almera was coming back.

 

Alex desperately dived down and looked around for the missing berries at the bottom of the bowl, hoping they fell out in the water. The berries looked very similar to the pebbles so he had to sift his hands through some of stones- While he was frantically looking, Almera came back into the room and made her way over to the bowl. Alex took a sharp breath of relief when his fingers wrapped around two different colored berries- he curled them tightly into his palms just as Almera’s hands grabbed him again.

 

He was lifted out of the water and dripping wet, soon the merman was face to face with Almera’s green eyes. He shivered at her devious expression, she looked like she was about to do something very evil to him.

 

“Let’s play mister merman!”

 

She walked out of the room and across the hallway to a room with an unrecognizable device on the table that could easily fit something-or someone- very small.

 

The merman’s eyes widened in horror upon seeing it; who knows what that thing could do to him!

But he didn’t want to find out. Alex took a glance at his palms and noticed the berries he grabbed were two different colors. He knew these different colors meant its effects could go either way, but Almera was now getting very close to reaching the device…he had to take a risk.

 

 _“I hope this works…”_ he thought as he quickly popped both berries into his mouth and gulped them down.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

 

_“I hope this works…”_ he thought as he quickly popped both berries into his mouth and gulped them down.

 

The next thing Alex knew, his body suddenly became larger than the ‘giant’ toddler holding him and he grew up and out of the toddlers hands. He enlarged much faster than expected, hitting his head of the tall ceilings of the castle’s room within seconds and with his still being in mer form, his tail and fins soon reached all the way to the walls. An all too familiar feeling of the chamber becoming very cramped for this merman to be in, his fins pushing against the walls and any furniture in the room was either pushed to the side or snapped in half. The toddler in the room fell backwards and just barely had enough time to run into the hallway to avoid getting crushed by Alex’s gigantic tail. 

Just as the space was becoming unbearable to be in, the growth finally stopped.

Alex sighed in relief that he wouldn’t get any bigger, but also shifted uncomfortably in the position he found himself in. His arms twisted above him and his tail smushed up against his chin, there was no way out of this without attempting to completely destroy the stone castle he was in, or by getting to a smaller size.

 

_“Great…now what am I gonna do?”_

 

Thankfully, At the very moment of his thought, the latter is just what seemed to be the solution. He hiccuped a bit and in doing so his size became a good few inches smaller, giving him more room to move around. Another hiccup just a few seconds later did the same; he did so again and again until finally he was back to normal size again. The merman gave a huge breath of relief when the hiccups making him smaller stopped just at the right moment.

 

“Awww, mister merman is no longer tiny!” A small voice whined from the doorway. Alex looked over and glared at the now regular sized toddler who was about to do something terrible to him. If he weren’t still with fins he would’ve given her a good lesson of her own. Since he was still technically stuck on the floor in the middle of the room, He pointed an accusing finger at her instead.

 

“You little brat!” he growled, “What were you planning to do to me!?” 

 

“That was for me to know and you to find out.” She giggled evilly. 

 

“Why you-“ Alex’s sentence was cut short when he took in a short pained breath and felt his tail form back into legs again. Once it was over, he sighed again in relief and stood up. “Ugh, finally…” he mumbled happy to be able to walk again.

 

However, when turned his attention back down to the toddler, his eyes widened when he realized he was completely naked and unfortunately for the small girl, her face was right at crotch level. 

 

Before any possible action to be taken, the girl let out an ear piercing scream. 

It was obvious she’s never seeing one of _those_ before. She quickly ran away, screaming the entire way down the halls. 

 

“Oops….” Alex said to himself, blushing in embarrassment, despite how evil this girl might’ve been- he did feel somewhat guilty that he accidentally just took away any sense of innocence this child might’ve had now.

 

Not having much time, he shook his mind out of the unfortunate situation and quickly tried to find something to cover himself with so he could escape. He grabbed a fur throw that was on the back of one of the fancy chairs and tied it around his waist, it would have to do for now. Just as he passed the girl’s room he was originally in first, he stopped when he heard the voices of the baby clams in the glass bowl on the shelf. 

 

“Please don’t leave us!” they cried in unison. 

 

His heart clenched at those cries and he couldn’t help but turn back around to retrieve them. He quickly grabbed the entire bowl off the shelf and made a break for it, careful not to spill too much water from the bowl with his strides.

 

He dashed down the hallways and he noticed this castle was huge… He needed to try to find the exit but he didn’t even know where to start! He could hear some of it’s residents gasp and scream in shock from every door he passed by. Though he wasn’t completely nude now he was still pretty exposed by the general standards with only wearing a fur throw and nothing else. 

 

“Ahh!!! An indecent! Call the cards, quickly!!” He heard some female voice say behind him as he continued to try to escape.

 

Alex turned the corner and panicked when he stopped to a dead end window. Looking outside he saw he was high up, this castle must’ve been at least four or 5 stories tall from where he was, and it was just over a ravine that looked out into a lake not too far below. He thought maybe he could jump for it into the water, but frowned when he recognized that the water was probably a good quarter mile from the window’s edge, he knew he would never be able to jump far enough out to hit the water instead of the hard ground straight below. 

 

“There you are indecent!” a walking flat card called from down the hallway upon spotting him, he signaled the other guards as he criss-crossed feet towards him. 

 

Alex backed against the window, he understood there was no way out of this- but upon looking down at the small clams in the glass bowl in his hands he gave a soft smile to the the younglings as they looked up at him with a hopeful expression.

 

_“_ Well, at least you guys will get to be free….” he said solemnly.

 

Turing back to the open window, he reached his arm back and threw the entire bowl as hard and far as he could out. The bowl was a little heavy with the water in it, but with him being a mer, his upper body strength made up for it.

He held his breath in suspense as he watched it descend in the air. He grinned in victory when he saw it splash into the lake’s waters just seconds before the guards tackled him to the floor. The cards kept him there by quickly stacking one on top each other until it was too heavy for him to move.

 

Alex could hear the approaching sound of a shuffling dress and boots clanking against the cold stone floor until it stopped right by the merman’s face.

 

“My Queen! We have the indecent!”

 

Alex struggled, but lifted his head just enough to see the figure that the boots belonged to, His jaw dropped in shock when he immediately recognized this so called ‘Queen’ standing above him. 

 

“……Charlotte?” 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be a bit of a short chapter, but it's still progressing! ^^

Chapter 9

 

There were many strange mysteries and surprises in this odd land that at this point Alex could believe. But this was one thing that he couldn’t.

 

Standing there before him was none other than the woman who got him into this mess and somehow she’s the Queen of this place…

Alex’s mind was reeling with questions as he sat locked up in the castle’s tower. Charlotte did not explain anything to him yet, and as he contemplated what to do while sitting half naked on an old wooden chair wringing his hands out of anxiety. He wondered if she would even give him the courtesy of an explanation.

 

On cue to those distressing thoughts, the sound of the heavy door to the chamber clanked open and Alex stood up as he recognized the sound of the figure’s feet approaching. It was indeed her, the so-called “Queen” of this land and a complete traitor to his heart. She smirked and reveled in seeing his bewildered expression from this predicament.

 

Not being able to stand this silence for much longer, Alex spoke first.

 

“Are you going tell me who…or what you really are here?”

 

The lady Charlotte laughed that sent shivers down his spine.

 

“Oh of course of course my little merman. I just can’t help myself from playing with you, it’s so intoxicating to do so and your heart’s energy was a truly divine taste, I never expected that my seducing power would make us end up here; but- Here we are.”

 

Alex’s eyes furrowed in confusion at first, but very soon widened again when he soon figured out what she was saying.

 

“You’re not human?”

 

“Very clever of you to notice my dear boy.” Charlotte continued with a wink.

“To be more precise no, I am not human. I am a creature who feeds on the hearts of mankind with my amazing power of seduction and beauty. Simply put; I would be more well known as a Succubus my darling.”

Alex’s expression changed to shock as he was finally putting the pieces together, it made sense now why all men flocked to her and yet some of those men were never heard from again, it would be rumored that it was because of the threat of her husband finding out and those men had to skip town. But that would’ve been a good cover-up for her after killing and eating them; In fact from this evidence he was sure that she didn’t even have a husband. There was still something about this with him that seemed to not fit though.

 

“If you feed on human hearts, how were you able to use your power on me, I’m not a human either.”

 

“On the contrary Alex dear, don’t you know you are a hybrid? One of your birth parents must’ve been human while the other was a mer. How else would you change into legs once dry? It was your human side that was under my spell.”

 

Alex looked away to process this statement, he was an orphan and didn’t develop fully into a merman until later in his adolescence, the idea had crossed his mind but he was unable to get any answers about his birthparents at all so he couldn’t confirm it- All this time he thought it was more likely that mers in general had the ability to change into humans.

 

“But… How did you find me, why are you even here? It’s not like there’s too many humans in this madhouse for you to feed on.”

 

Charlotte chuckled, “That’s true, not all of the beings here are susceptible to my power, but lucky for me, the King had a human heart and I influenced him for me to be his queen and take over. His head was absolutely delicious by the way.” She grinned with malice that made Alex want to be sick.

 

“But anywhoo, I followed your tail’s trail in the mud to the rabbit hole that became the portal to Wonderland. I have heard vaguely of it before and was thrilled when I discovered this new world that could be completely mine for the taking. I didn’t waste much time in influencing whoever I could to get me to the King. Once I had him in my grasp, the rest was easy… And I have you to thank for this my dear. I’m sure your people will thank you as well.”

 

Alex flinched, “To be honest miss succubus, I don’t know much about my people…I don’t even know where I came from, and I’ve never even met another mer or creature like me.” he said with a hint of regret.

 

“Oh my, that’s so sad! My poor little merman.”

 

Alex glared at her calling him that.

 

“I’m not yours! I may have fallen for that trick once but it’s not going to work again now that I know what you really are.”

 

The queen raised a brow at him. “Oh really now, is that a challenge?”

 

At that moment her eyes flashed yellow and Alex could feel himself succumbing to her power.

He stumbled backwards and tried to resist it, but the influence was far too great, his body finally relaxed and his eyes lost all life in them. He looked back up at her with a completely blank stare.

 

Charlotte walked to him and gently caressed his lifeless face, smiling softly as she handed him some alluring formal clothes.

 

“Now, that’s a good merman. Put these on and meet me in the courtyard, you’ll be my faithful servant from now on.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this took so long ^^;  
> Things have been busy- BUT I do still plan to finish this story up for ya!
> 
> I have some awesome news to share though!  
> Many of you have asked what Alex looks like, and now comes the time where I get to reveal that to you with an awesome commissioned piece from Deviantart artist, Kurama-Chan. IF you'd like to see what he looks like, refer back to chapter 2 as I have put the image there for all newcomers to see. ^^ 
> 
> Hope you are enjoying the story! Again sorry this chapter turned out so short. xp

Chapter 10

 

Every inch of his mind was screaming to stop, but he couldn’t. He was trapped within his own consciousness while under Charlotte’s spell. His arms putting on the clothes, and his feet taking him to the courtyard of the castle. When he met with Charlotte, she was having tea by a trickling fountain in the center of the garden. A bunch of cards were busy at work painting the white roses red in the bushes surrounding them.

 

“Oh my, Alex. You look ravishing in that outfit. I could eat you up!” the succubus queen said with a gleam in her eye. Alex could only nod with a blank stare, but inwardly he was cringing at her words because he knew she meant them literally.

 

A rustle upon the rose bushes behind him gave way to a white rabbit making a hasty entrance. He came in so quickly that the rabbit tripped on it’s own feet and fell straight into the back of Alex’s knees. The subdued mer immediately fell forward and straight into the fountain with a splash.

 

The second the water touched him, He started to transform- his legs getting soaked and his gills appearing- it wasn’t long until he had his tail again. In addition, the water also gave Alex complete control of his body back.

 

“Wh-wha?” he muttered blinking into awareness and found himself sitting in mer form at the bottom of the fountain, water dripping on his head.

 

“YOU FOOL!” A booming female voice was heard nearby. Alex looked over to see Charlotte completely livid at the white rabbit who was cowering in the corner next to some bushes.

 

“Just look what you did rabbit! You’re not only late but you completely ruined my time with my merman slave!”

 

“I-I’m sorry my queen.” The rabbit stuttered- “I-it was an accident- I pp-promise it won’t happen again!”

 

“Oh you bet it won’t! Guards! Take the rabbit, off with his head!”

 

A group of black spade cards marched in and took a hold of the rabbit’s arms.

 

“No! Please! Don’t kill me! I beg of your mercy please my queen!!”

 

Alex couldn’t stand to watch this poor rabbit being taken away to die in the most horrendous of ways. Out of sheer determination and impulse, he slammed his tail hard into the center of the fountain and within a few bashes it broke completely and sent a huge outburst of water on to everyone in the vicinity- leaving the rabbit, the queen and the playing cards dripping wet. With the playing cards being made of cardboard, they couldn’t keep their grip on the rabbit anymore and they quickly withered away into a soggy pulp.

The rabbit saw his chance and took this opportunity to quickly hop away into the bushes to escape.

 

The queen slowly turned around to face the merman with her garments soaked and her makeup running down her scowling face. She attempted to control Alex again, but found that she couldn’t with him in this form. The merman noticed this, but he still knew he was at a disadvantage with her. The water from the fountain had slowed to a trickle now and he was stuck in a large puddle of it still with his tail immobilizing him yet again.

 

Now it was Alex’s turn to beg for mercy, he gulped nervously but still tried to keep a stoic face in front of the livid queen. The queen approached the merman with a huff in every step making him back up against the edge of what was left of the fountain. He stared up at her with narrowed eyes, but his eyes suddenly widened when something furry appeared on her head. It was so out place he couldn’t help but blurt out what it was.

 

“A-A Cat!”

 

The queen stopped mid-stride in confusion.

 

“Th-there’s a cat on you head!” the merman said trying to hold back a laugh.

 

“What?” she said.

 

“Oh look! It’s a cat!” one of the cards that was over the bush and didn’t get soaked said.

“Yes! I see it!” another called “It’’s on her head!” the other one laughed.

 

“What are you talking about!?” she yelled taking a hand to pat her head-but the purple striped cat disappeared again just as she did so.

 

The laughing erupted even further.

 

“There is no Cat, why are all of you laughing?!”

 

Alex couldn’t even hold back a chuckle when he saw where it appeared next it was right on the back of her dress resting on her bum.

 

“There it is again!”

 

The queen turned around and couldn’t find any cat as it kept disappearing and reappearing in places she wasn’t looking at.

 

As she was distracted with this nonsense, Alex abruptly felt two hands grab him from behind He let out a muffled gasp as he was being quickly dragged away into the bushes with gloved hands covering both his mouth and eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

Alex struggled as he was being pulled backwards through the thrush of rose bushes in mer-form.

His mouth and his eyes were covered and he couldn’t tell who was dragging him or where they were taking him. The merman let out a muffled yelp of pain as he felt something sharp prick straight through one of his delicate fins.

 

“Stop struggling, we’re almost to the other side.” A familiar sounding male voice could be heard whispering into his ear.

 

The darkness that covered his eyes soon became a little bit lighter and he could tell he was no longer in the bushes anymore from the way the sunlight was shining through the gloved fingertips of the one covering his eyes. The texture of the ground changed to grass and finally whoever had been concealing his vision removed their hands from his eyes. Alex winced and blinked a few times to adjust his eyes in the brightness of the sun. When at last his vision cleared, he looked behind him to try to see his capturers. One of which still had him gagged with their clothed hands covering his mouth. His eyes widened when he recognized the twins who were dragging him away from what had to be certain death from the Queen.

 

The merman gave a questioning look to them as he tried to speak through the gloved hand covering his mouth.

 

“Keep your voice down” the twin instructed,

“We haven’t escaped just yet. “

 

The twin finally let him go and allowed him to move more freely.

Alex twisted himself around on the grass and looked up to his captors.

 

“What are you doing?” he couldn’t help but ask in a voice a little louder than they would have liked.

 

“Shh! she’ll hear you!” Dee scolded in a whispering voice.

 

“We’re saving your tail is what we’re doing, now keep down and keep quiet- we have to get out of here before she finds us.”

 

“But….why are you helping me?” Alex asked with a bit concern.

 

“Can't explain right here and now.” Dum stately answered.

 

Alex shrugged and moved his tail to try to get into a better position for hiding, but upon doing so he winced and swallowed back a cry of pain that radiated straight from one side of his fins. He looked down at his lower half to inspect his tail and his eyes went wide, A large thorn from a rose bush was caught through his fin, the sharp thorn tearing a hole about the size of an orange into the thin membrane and left blood trickling from the impalement; he could also see that his blood left a trail from the bushes he just came through. Alex couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of the injury.

 

“Oi, look what you did Dee- that’s not gonna help us at all.” One twin stated.

 

“That wasn’t me Dum! He got it caught himself.” the other argued.

 

“It was both of you, imbeciles!” Alex insulted them angrily but in a pained and hushed tone.

 

The twins looked offended and Dum was about to throw an insult back at the merman but just before he could say anything, the white rabbit appeared from the bushes behind them.

 

“What are you three doing?” the Rabbit said anxiously.

 

“You need to get him to the lake before she catches us all!”

 

At that moment the sound of trumpet blaring was heard and the Queen’s blaring angry shouts were heard from not too incredibly far away.

 

“FIND THE MERMAN! GET HIM TO ME SO HE CAN BE OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”

 

All four beings quickly looked at each other with fear in each of their eyes and the twins sprang into action to pick up the immobilized merman and try to get him to better safety. With no time to lose, they both linked their arms and unexpectedly slid their hands underneath Alex’s tail to lifted him up without much warning at all. Alex grunted in surprise but held their shoulders with his arms, trying his best to not to be knocked out of their makeshift seat for him as they attempted to run whilst carrying him.

 

The rabbit soon led the way through the maze of bushes surrounding them.

 

“This way, hurry!” he hopped around the corner with the twins following rather slowly behind.

 

Alex could hear the card guards shuffling about the place and he was grateful that the rabbit seemed to know the way out of this Labyrinth. However they couldn’t go too fast with the merman’s weight in their arms. He wished his legs would come back so that he could at least not be carried away, but something inside him knew that the injury to his fin might prevent that from happening right now.

 

As they turned through several corners, the beings were met with a stack of red aces blocking their path. The twins stopped, their breathing in short gasps. Alex knew it must’ve been torture carrying him like this while also running away.

 

The cards started approaching them with their spears in hand- making them back up a bit.

 

Just as they were about to attack, an array of teapots, plates, forks and knives suddenly hit them from behind and the ones blocking the way immediately fell flat from the assault of the objects.

 

The cards gave way to another two beings Alex recognized- the Hatter and the Hare.

They both were armed with all sorts of dish-ware and cutlery. The Hatter gave Alex and them a small smirk with a tip of the Hat.

 

“We’ll hold them off- you get the fish-boy out!”

 

Though Alex didn’t really appreciate the nickname, he still gave the Hatter a look of gratitude as he signaled them to pass by.

 

The rabbit lead them to a few shortcuts by passing through several bushes that had openings big enough for all of them to fit through, the twins panted and were growing tired from the excursion.

 

“Keep going guys, you’re doing great!” Alex said in their weakening arms, hoping to encourage them as they kept running.

 

Not too long after that, the rabbit finally got them to the gate of the garden’s maze- the three exhaled in near victory to escaping.

 

They quickly passed the gates and headed straight for the lake that seemed to be a few good meters in front of them. Making them closer to it, just as they almost were at the edge Dum tripped and caused his twin to stumble and the merman to fly straight out of their arms.

 

“Whoa!” Alex cried just before he landed face first on the gravel, sliding a few feet forward and scraping many of his scales away in the process.

 

Alex groaned in pain and slowly sat up with his arms supporting him. He looked up in front of him and saw that the lake was still a bit of a distance away.

 

“There he is!!” The Queen exclaimed loudly approaching the exit from the garden maze. The Rabbit, Dee and Dum were already running off in random directions from seeing her approach- not even bothering to let him know he was on his own.

 

Alex paled and immediately did the only thing he could at that moment, crawl for dear life and at least attempt to make it to the lake. He ignored the discomfort of the hard gravel beneath him rubbing up against his skin and his injured tail. He used his arms to try to drag himself to the refuge of the water. The thorn in his fin wasn’t helping at all as the tear seemed to get worse with each movement and left a bigger wound and a small trail of blood behind him.

 

He only got a few feet when he heard the sound of the cards directly behind him. This was it, he knew he wouldn’t make it and it wouldn’t be long now before he was captured again and this time put to death.

 

Alex closed his eyes and wished deeply that it wouldn’t have to end this way for him. He was so close, yet so far away from the liberation he desperately needed. Alex stopped his dragging-not looking back, he lowered his head onto his curled fist in complete hopelessness.

 

_“If only I could be free….If only I could know my true family….Why is it I that has to be the only one here?”_  

the endangered merman thought regretfully holding back tears.

 

In that moment, the heavy sound of fluttering wings approaching from close above was heard. Alex suddenly felt a bunch of fuzzy legs wrap around his torso; before he knew it- he was off the ground and in the air.

 

_“Foolish merman.”_ said a familiar deep, aggravated voice from above.

 

Alex was completely speechless when he looked up to what got a hold of him, it none other than the caterpillar Absolem. Though…he was not a caterpillar anymore. The once small insect had transformed into a humongous life sized butterfly. Big enough to carry the merman through the air with very beautiful and colorful wings. Alex probably would not have recognized the giant butterfly as Absolem if he didn’t hear him speak first.

 

Alex was carried higher and higher off the ground, and closer and closer to the Lake until it was directly below him.

 

Without warning, the butterfly released his hold, and the merman plummeted into the water below. He created a huge splash that could be seen from the enraged Queen and her cards standing near the edge of the bank. Alex wasn’t able to hear her vehement scream of frustration from underneath the sanctuary of the water.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Chapter!  
> This story is turning out a lot better than I expected- and I hope it's doing the same for you too! :3  
> If that's indeed the case, please be sure to continue to leave kudos/comments for me! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> I betcha no one's done this before? ;) Please leave a comment/Kudos if you liked it! If I get enough feedback, I will definitely continue. :)


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